Elf Boy's Friends - X

Chapter 8

On Walkabout

"I'll hang my saddlebags over your withers with your own pack. Okay?" Corwin asked Derry who nodded. The scabbard for Corwin's carbine was more problematic so he put the strap over his own shoulder.

The morning air was cool and refreshing on their bare skin. Corwin and Derry were entirely nude though Axel did wear silk riding trews plus a pair of short boots with thick heels that fit more securely in the stirrups than the flat sole of a sandal much less the soft one of a moccasin. They gave Axel a more secure seat.

With the sun slanting through the trees, the trio made their way down an unimproved rural road, just a dirt track really but adequate for their purpose. The Commonwealth had held off building major highways in this southern region until the pattern of settlement became clear and the planners could route the roads where they needed to go.

Near nightfall they crossed a timber bridge and found themselves in a village with a tavern which mostly catered to locals but did offer accommodations to travelers.

"The stable is out back." the proprietor told them. "You will have to see to your mounts yourself. We don't get much horse-borne trade so we don't have a stable boy for horses or unicorns for that matter."

Frost Giants mostly traveled on foot since they were too large for horses. Humans were much better with horses and mules anyway.Stage coaches and freight wagons were driven by human teamsters to save weight. And their teamsters cared for their horses themselves. Humans were much better with horses and mules anyway.

"I suppose you will need just the one room for the two of you? A bed sized for a giant will easily fit the both of you, small as you are."

<It has to be large enough for the three of us,> Derry corrected the proprietor who was first startled by Mind Speech then astonished at the unicorn's transformation into his two legged-form.

"A unicorn who is a shapeshifting Frost Giant-Snow Elf hybrid! Now I've seen everything." he murmured.

All heads turned as the three impossibly comely youths, two of them stark naked, entered the common room of the "The Sign of the Aurochs." The proprietor had named his establishment after the huge half-wild bovines which drew the plows of the Frost Giants.

To satisfy the curiosity of his patrons the proprietor made an announcement about Derry's status then pointed out that Corwin bore the small blue tattoo of a Giant-Friend which entitled him to their hospitality and protection.

"I've never see a friendship tattoo like yours," he remarked to Axel.

"It marks him as an Orc-Friend." Corwin told him.

"I didn't know orcs had the formal institution of Friendship. Not that I ever had a problem with their kind. Orcs are decent enough."

Orcs were somewhat standoffish and were overly fond of garlic but were not actively disliked. Besides the giants respected the orcs for their strength which owed much to the leverage of their gangly limbs.

The trio put their gear up in their room and went to the washroom to get cleaned up. Derry especially luxuriated in the warm soapy water as he scrubbed his body and limbs and shampooed his hair.

<I don't have your problems,> Derry sent as he continued to scrub and dunk and rinse his locks.

<Cleanliness is easy for wirs like me. Every time I transform I automatically shed foreign matter as if it were so much dandruff which leaves me clean and dry. To complete my toilette, I run a comb through me hair. It takes only a minute.>

<Now I enjoy bathing as much as you do. It feels good lounging in the bath water, letting the heat soak into your limbs, relaxing your muscles. And soap and shampoo have pleasant floral scents. And let's not overlook the er recreational possibilities of bathing together, but washing is an indulgence rather than a necessity.>

Corwin slipped on a pair of square cut low-rise short shorts and moccasins while Derry wrapped himself in a green and white sarong. He explained:

<In the land of the giants it is wise to comply with the local customs."

Elves might live sky clad but Frost Giants did not. It was one thing to strip for the sauna or for the bath or the sauna or for sweaty dirty work, but Frost Giants usually went clothed though in silks not in the furs they wore in winter in their chilly northern homeland.

Axel wore a complete outfit of shirt and trews and moccasins plus an amulet at his throat which added a note of casual elegance.

"That is quite a pretty stone in your amulet. It's red like your hair though a much dark shade, Axel. Is it a family heirloom or perhaps a present from an admirer?> Derry asked.

"It does have sentimental value, but for other reasons." Axel allowed but did not elaborate.

The jewel was actually a secret weapon or rather a defense, one of the extremely rare ensorcelled amulets which negated hostile magic directed against the wearer. It had saved Axel's life on more than one occasion hence the sentimental value. The elf-boy cum druid Dahlderon owned another, both confiscated from evildoers.

Once primped and dressed the three returned to the common room to eat supper and to socialize with the locals and gather local color as Corwin put it.

Now both Corwin and Axel had worked up a good appetite and dug right into the savory beef stew and rye bread the serving boy had brought them, but that was nothing compared to the amount of food that Derry put away. The Snow Elf concentrated on eating and did not engage much in conversation, not till he had taken the edge off his appetite.

"You've eaten enough for three people." Axel observed.

Derry shrugged. "Compared to a little guy like you or Corwin I AM three people. And Corwin rode all day while I carried him on my back. Though I intend to mount him tonight, if you take my meaning."

It was true that at three hundred pounds, the shape shifter had nearly three times the mass of either of his companions, but there was more to it than that. Unlike natural born unicorns a unicorn shapeshifter had to get his nutrition from the omnivorous diet of his human form. It wasn't just that Derry had little patience with the tedium of grazing in his equine form. There wasn't really that much nutrition in grass, so you had to take in a whole lot of it. That took hours, the internal processing took energy, and then their was the quantity of bodily wastes.

The real problem was that a shifter could transform his own body but not the contents of his gut. Taking on human form after grazing would leave Derry with a large mass of mostly indigestible fodder in him which his digestive system could not handle very well. If Derry had to eat in his equine form he munched on grains such as oats which offered nutrition for less bulk.

No, it was much better to rely on the omnivore diet of their bipedal form. Besides the wide range of foods which cooking made available offered meat and vegetables, fruits, nuts, sweets, and cold beer. Such foods were best taken at the evening meal giving Derry all night to digest them. In the evening Derry always stayed in his bipedal form whether to socialize or for sleep or for sex.

Meanwhile the attention of the giants focussed on Corwin and Axel.

"You would be that journalist and author." A giant named Magnus Olsen remarked to Corwin. "I've always liked to read your stuff, and now I see that you are a giant-friend. More power to you Corwin Klarendes."

A giant at the table on the other side asked if they were expecting trouble, armed as they were with carbines.

Corwin shrugged. He and Axel had simply hung onto the carbines they had carried when fighting manticores and centaurs.

"Oh so you were involved in the fighting up north. What is the latest news? Issues of the weekly paper out of Flensborg take forever to reach here by the freight line."

So the boys summarized the campaign for the locals who then asked questions.

"Are you really any good with that carbine, son?" one giant asked Axel who smiled.

"Good enough to be the top scoring sniper in the war against the trolls."

"Axel is just about the deadliest sharpshooter in the Commonwealth though as a sniper he actually used the longer infantry version of the airgun." Corwin enthused. "His motto in Amazonia was one shot, one kill though he actually averaged a bit better than that."

Axel nodded. "One hundred two kills for every one hundred shots."

The giant frowned. "Surely that is not mathematically possible."

"Actually it is," Axel assured him. "I am a dead shot thanks to endless target practice, my gift of Unerring Direction and my enhanced physique which lets me hold the weapon absolutely steady. I would wait till two targets lined up, one head behind the other, then drop them both with a single shot. An occasional double tap more than made up for the very few times I missed when the target moved during the flight of the bullet."

"Now that average is only for the shots I took as a sniper. It doesn't count the volleys I shot off with my carbine as a cavalryman from atop a charging brontothere. It's a lot harder to hit a moving target from a mount which is itself in motion especially when the enemy is sending arrows your way."

"Airguns are not the only way Corwin and Axel can protect themselves, as I learned from Corwin's own book on the war in Amazonia." Magnus Olsen reminded his fellow giants. "Both are war mages with powerful magical gifts. Corwin wields ball lightning and Axel Wilde can teleport himself and others."

"Corwin is also both a combat medic and a magical Healer." Axel added. "During our hunting expedition he counteracted the venom from the stingers of the manticores."

"Now a single gift is useful enough." Axel allowed. "but it is when you use your gifts in concert that you are most effective. I liked to Jump to otherwise inaccessible hides, places which no one would suspect a sniper could get to, and lie in wait. When the time came, I'd take my shot then jump into the clear."

More than his words it was Axel's even delivery that impressed the giants. There was no brag in anything the young human said.

"Just recently we villagers were put on alert but didn't get called up by the militia. Nevertheless we all keep airguns at home in case we are ever mustered into service. And some folks use them for hunting."

Corwin nodded. "I've seen your big airguns in action both in Amazonia and up north. They pack quite a punch. They're the next thing to a swivel gun really."

The giants could tell that these two were friendly modest and respectful boys and rapidly warmed up to them.

The giants didn't know quite what to make of Derry. Half giant half elf, a shape shifter who turned into a unicorn and had the magical powers of both. All that was entirely outside their experience. Still unicorns had sterling reputations right up there with the druids.

Corwin at least knew what to do with Derry in bed or rather Derry with him.

Derry laid Corwin out on his back and stripped the shorts right off his hips, rendering him naked then ordered him to get on all fours.

"I am going to cover you just like a stallion covers his filly." Derry promised.

"Wrong gender. If must use an equine simile at least recognize that I am a male and call me a colt."

"I stand corrected, little one. A spunky colt it is."

So saying Derry laid himself atop the smaller male, though careful to keep much of his weight on his own arms and knees. Derry loved making full the bodily contact with a lover and pressed his hips to Corwin's rump. That brought his erection into play, prodding for the opening in Corwin's fundament. It felt huge.

Corwin looked back and saw that Derry's erection put his own more modest endowment in the shade. Its helmet looked to be about twice the size of his own and the stalk proportionally thick. Empurpled and engorged it throbbed with the shape shifter's passion.

"I suppose that would be what they call a horse cock." he asked.

"Not really, not compared to the real thing." Derry admitted. "but more than adequate to the task."

"That might be true, but it still looks to be about as much as I can handle. So take it slow, Derry. I am small and tight back there."

Which was actually how Corwin preferred it, having a big one forced slowly into his tight quim, impaling him, filling him with his lover's masculinity. With his control of his musculature magically enhanced by his Healing gift, Corwin could work his sphincters rhythmically, squeezing and massaging the invading member, employing muscles normally used to push out to draw in, helping a lover reach orgasm and afterwards milk his cock of the last drops of his gism.

Axel was odd man out, but he could accept that Derry would have an exclusive bond with Corwin at least at first. Only time would tell. Corwin did look every so sexy, his small body getting shoved back and forth by the male who was pronging him to the accompaniment of moans and inarticulate cries, his small body sweaty and slick from from exertion and arousal.

Derry took Corwin twice the night, the second time on his back so they could make love face to face with Corwin's small body bent in half, his knees up by his shoulders. Derry thrust into him, grunting with his passion until he came with a triumphant neigh or something close to it.

Corwin was a natural bottom though he could be flexible with a lover his own size like Axel. Still no one would take either of them for tops, being small and slender and pretty and totally lacking body hair even at the fork of their legs, not to mention their penchant for running around much of the time bare-ass naked. Yes nudity was a sensible adaptation to the tropical climate, but with both Corwin and Axel it was more than that. They wanted other people to ogle their scrumptious bodies and to long for them.

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